


Take Control

by Azzandra



Category: Andromeda Six (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, I need to expel this idea from my skull, Jules Lives AU, idk man just take it, in which he's part of the Andromeda Six crew
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:06:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26855668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azzandra/pseuds/Azzandra
Summary: The last member of the crew the Traveler meets is June's twin.Written for Andromedatober Day 6 - Stardust.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	Take Control

"You're June's twin?" Ophelia asked.

Jules smiled in a way that made the question seem foolish, because it was identical to June's smile, so wide that that it crinkled the corners of his eyes. It was easier to see the resemblance in the face, even despite Jules' gauntness.

"You're not the first one to have a hard time believing it," Jules laughed, gesturing towards himself, so much frailer than his brother, and not nearly as tall. There was no bitterness in it, just well-worn self-deprecation. Whatever illness ravaged his body, it seemed an old one, or at least old enough for Jules to have grown used to it.

"No, I mean--" She grew flustered as she tried to explain. "I guess you come across as older, the way you, um, act with June."

"I _am_ older," Jules said seriously. 

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh? By how many minutes?"

Jules chuckled, rubbed the back of his neck.

"That's probably documented somewhere," he muttered, more to himself. But then the smile slipped off his face, like a light dimming the longer he contemplated the details of their past.

Ophelia cleared her throat, now feeling awkward for bringing it up, and leaned over to look at the screen in front of Jules.

"So, you're the navigator?" she asked.

Jules made a sound in the back of his throat, like he was holding back a laugh, but despite how hamfisted the attempt at changing the subject was, he let it stand.

"Sure," he confirmed. "I'm even pretty good at it." He gestured towards the screen in front of him--the readings were all arcane to Ophelia, but Jules had a small fond smile on his face; this was a familiar task to him.

"Do you enjoy it?" she asked.

The question took Jules by surprise, and he gave Ophelia a startled glance like he hadn't ever thought to ask himself something like that. But then the surprise on his face faded, replaced by something almost speculative.

"Well," he said, and turned in his seat, grabbing onto the backrest and console at the same time to hoist himself up. He did it with surprising energy, considering how sickly he looked, but as he stood upright, it was clear he was intimately familiar with his own limitations, and not particularly hindered by them.

"You know what I love about it?" he asked, as he ushered Ophelia gently along, a hand hovering just short of touching the small of her back for the few steps it took to move her just where he wanted. "This." He gestured to the viewport, before and above them, and the view of space beyond. 

Ophelia looked, and so did Jules, for the long, quiet moment of awe that the view inspired.

There was nothing but the twinkle of stars and the expanse of blackness in between. Ophelia had no concrete memory of watching the night sky, except now that she looked at the view of space, she thought it strange that the stars looked no closer than they did when viewed from a planet. There was a distance so vast, that degrees became meaningless to the human mind.

Ophelia tore her eyes away to look at Jules, but he was still looking at the viewport above, and the starlight brought out some bone-deep longing in him that left Ophelia breathless just to witness. There was no frailty in this: the light in Jules' eyes, the brightness of his spirit.

"I never thought me and June would get to be here, like this. I never thought we'd get to see--any of it, really. But now that I've got a taste of it? I want to see _everything_. I want to go everywhere. And sitting at that console, deciding the way we take to get there, is more control over my fate than I ever imagined possible at one point in my life."

His gaze fell to Ophelia then, heavy-lidded and peaceful, and a dreamy smile spread across his face. His hand now pressed against Ophelia's lower back, the touch light but warm.

"You know what I mean?" Jules asked.

"Yeah," she answered in a sigh, though she didn't know where this certainty came from.

Jules hummed thoughtfully.

"Maybe you do know," he said.

They lapsed into silence as they looked at each other. Ophelia didn't know what this was--sizing each other up, or finding something kindred in one another?--except that the longer it went on, the less Ophelia wanted to do anything to interrupt it. She felt heat rising up to her face the longer she stared into Jules' unreadable gray eyes, and this too, she didn't particularly mind, despite how much it made her want to squirm.

"There you are!" Ryona's voice cut through, making Ophelia jump out of her skin and also a step back.

Jules looked not even a bit ruffled, instead standing there, smiling, hands clasped behind his back innocently. It just made Ophelia feel even more flustered. Had he noticed Ryona coming?

Ryona looked from one to another, eyes narrowed, but then shook her head as she approached Ophelia.

"I told you, you should still be resting," she said, taking Ophelia's arm. She was gentle but very firm as she led Ophelia away from the bridge.

"Don't fight her on this," Jules remarked, amused. "I'm telling you from experience."

"Yes, yes, the scary medic is coming for you," Ryona all but rolled her eyes. "Come now, I'll show you to your room, since you appear to be having difficulty finding it on your own."

Ophelia wasn't going to protest anyway, but she couldn't help looking over her shoulder one last time towards Jules. 

He watched her go in turn, smiling as he stood under the stars he loved so much.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll just be over here, fucked up over dead fictional siblings. This is fine. It's fine.
> 
> Additional details about this AU that I was thinking about while suffering--I mean, writing this:
> 
> -Jules' uniform is teal, just a few shades closer to blue than June's. 
> 
> -Traveler still trains as navigator, but it's more to fill in for Jules when his chronic illness flares up, and also he's the one teaching it, so it's more of an apprenticeship situation.
> 
> -Jules and June having different reactions to the Traveler's identity reveal. ...Oh no, am I going to end up writing more for this AU?


End file.
